Kinda Like Goldilocks

 No, those strips are too wide,

And those strips are too thin, 

But those strips are just right.

Remember how I said I didn't think I was using up very many of those never ending worms? That in this tote it looked like I had hardly used any at all. 

When I went to my class with Katie Hartner last month I shoved those worms into a 2 gallon hefty bag. It was full. I ended up not hooking on my hit n miss rug because I was #2 in the teacher's rotation. So I put this project back into it's tote bag. I added more worms to the bag when I had rejects from my new project. I separated the worms that were too fat or too thin. Occasionally I used these when I hooked the last row in each square. Sometimes I needed a fat row, and sometimes I needed a skinny row. 

This is where I'm at today. Wowzers, I have used up quite a bit. 

Through the past month I've worked on this rug off and on. I have days where I hook a lot, then a week or so of nothing. I got it back out yesterday and look now. I only have three squares to complete, plus a couple rows of black border. I will at least finish the squares this week. I will have to find some solid looking black, then cut it, hook it, you know the routine. 

Aw, tis spring. I just love to watch nature unfold. 

Sue

It's Spring

 It's only 38' and snow is in the forecast. But I have flowers blooming. 

And inside I hung my "springy"rugs. 

Today is Sunday dinner. My dil is making the main meal, which means I'm to make the dessert. I'm making apple crisp and it smells so wonderful as it is baking. While I was preparing the apples I noticed that some of the seeds inside the apple had sprouted. That's a first for me. I had to look it up to make sure I could still use the apples. It's called vivipary. It happens sometimes when the apples are stored in a warm spot. And y'all know I like to keep my house nice and toasty. 74' is about just right. 

Have a great week.

Sue

A Game i Play With Myself

I count the squares. How many more are left? How many squares can I get hooked today?

I keep an index card.   

                                  Wednesday.   Thursday    

 Square started.           16.                       8.    

 Square empty.               4.                       3.

 Square completed.     15.                     24.

This motivates me. Well it did for a while. Then it got to be really boring and I rolled it up and put it in the corner. 

Waiting for the school bus. Both of them love kids. Not just my grandchildren, but all children. I believe Henry thinks the whole world is here to pet him. He sits with his right paw up and just waits. He's so sweet. Daisy is much more feisty. She will knock them over in her greetings. 

I bought 20 bags of mulch today. My flower gardens are getting greener by the day. Spring has arrived in Ohio. Yay.

Rug Update

 I've continued to work on the rug from my class with Katie Hartner. Again, I cannot say enough nice things about her. I've got the border hooked, now I just need to tweak the flowers. This is an Eagle's Nest Woolen named Sherry's Bouquet. 

I've also been working on my hit n miss rug. It's mindless hooking. Sometimes that's just what I want. Other times it gets extremely boring. I've come to realize this will be a bear to zigzag the edges. I might just go with what's already there and deal with the bit of excess. I've never zigzagged a piece before hooking, but I think I should have on this one. It's going to be a good size rug measuring 30x40. 

I love spring time. I like to go outside and look for what has grown, or what is blooming. I like to hear the peepers at night, and the birds singing in the morning. I don't have many flowers yet, but the promise of blooms is there. 

Looks like the wind blew the trellis over.

Here comes the lilies and iris,

The tulips.

And the poppies. This has tripled in size from last year. I love poppies. it looks like it's going to be a good year for flowers.

The Price of Eggs

 I still find it difficult to believe eggs cost so much. They are $5.97 at Aldi's. Six dollars for a dozen eggs seem crazy. 

I went to Planktown yesterday. Planktown is a Mennonite community with several stores and greenhouses. Today I picked up a dozen eggs at 4.00, some freshly ground beef, and fresh chicken thighs. 

Look at these beauties.

There is also a hardware store that sells all the stuff I need for soaps, lotions, etc. They sell the essential oils, flavor oils, speciality carrier oils, the containers, etc. Everything. Another market with great deli meats and cheeses, a butcher shop, a quilt shop, a bent and dent store, and many greenhouses and nurseries. It makes for a fun day.

Here's another beauty. Lexi is 16. She spends the night with me a couple of times a month. I will miss that. I see less and less of her as she grows up. Soon she'll be off to college and off on her own. I can feel that tug on my heart already. 

Another Sunday. Dinner will be chicken and gravy over biscuits and/or mashed potatoes.

Enjoy your day. It's to be 70' today, but it is windy and raining. Tis spring.

Sue 

It's a Fairy Tale

 A couple of weeks ago I had a friend, who is cleaning out their attic, give me boxes of kids books. I shared some with Connie at Wool Yankers and some to the little neighbor boy. And I still have a box of books. So many books. 

In those boxes were three large books of fairy tales. 

So I've started reading them to Mac in the mornings before school. We are enjoying them immensely. Many stories are ones I'd never heard of before. I thought the two blue books were the same, nope it's more tales. Ones like Little Claus and Big Claus or Little One Eye, Little Two Eyes, and Little Three Eyes. At first Mac missed his morning TV time, but now looks forward to story time. Which I think is great.

I used up the rest of the walnut dye. Since I didn't boil the walnut juice down it's more like a tint than a true dye. A couple of folks mentioned they thought it would turn out darker. I didn't know what to expect. I like the softer tint. 

On the left is the original, the right is what I dyed. Again the wool is blue, again I like it. 

It's another cold day here in Ohio. But I know spring is one the way. 

Sue

That Daisy

 

So I was already in bed, had been for about a half hour. I hear a dog barking from the front porch. It sounded like Daisy. But it couldn't be Daisy because I don't let her out the front door. I thought it must be the little neighbor Yorkie who sometimes gets out of his fence and comes to visit. So I got up, sure it would be Milo, and low and behold, it's Daisy. She must have snuck out whilst I was carrying in firewood. That Daisy. She is so fast. 

I was grateful. She'd been outside for an hour or so. Grateful that she knew to come home, grateful that she barked to be let in, grateful she didn't get hit on the road or attacked by the fox or coyotes. But boy did she smell. Not skunk, but foul from her face and neck. She is a digger and probably was having quite a good time. 

All is well. She slept in her crate, I gave her and her collar a good scrubbing. Hopefully the bed in the crate doesn't smell too bad. I have it outside airing. 

That Daisy.

And just because. These are my two favorite little boys. 

All is well. Sue

Walnut Dyeing, the Lazy Way

 This occurrence of dyeing really was the lazy way. I have three walnut trees in my yard. My son who mows for me insisted that I pick up the fallen walnuts. He says it makes for a very bumpy mow if they are on the ground. Plus last year he got a case of juglone poisoning. 

Anyways, I had picked up most of them and tossed them into the woods. The few that I would find at a later date I just tossed into a bucket to get rid of at a later date. Trouble is, winter came and I didn't empty the bucket. The walnuts have stewed all winter. My bucket was starting to get full of water. So I took some empty milk jugs and filled them with the walnut sludge. 

Yesterday I decided to see what happens if I use that sludge water to dye overly bright wools. I didn't take a before picture. I wish I had. When the wool was wet it had a greenish undertone to it. I dried it overnight by the wood burner and voila, pretty wools. Most of the wool started out as blue or aqua. The two pieces on the far left were a creamy color to start with. As per usual, neither photo of the finished wools are quite right. But I think they turned out great and I certainly will do this again. 

Have a happy Sunday. I have the smoker going and am smoking a pork butt for Sunday dinner. Yum. 

Sue

Rug Camp with Katie Hartner

 Last week Lauren, of Rugs and Pugs, and I went to Pennsylvania for a three day class with Katie Hartner. She was such a a sweet teacher. This was the best camp I've attended for years. The room was a bit crowded, but other than that, all was wonderful. Just wonderful. 

This was my rug. I wanted a soft look and I think I am achieving that goal. Keeping it in only in medium and light values has been more difficult than I thought it would be. The camera shows a few areas that may need to be changed. Like that leaf top right. 

Here are the other folks rugs. 

This woman was punching her rug. She says it works better for her. And it looks just like a regular hooked rug from the front. 

This one is Lauren's rug. It is so cute. 

Today is a better today. The pain is less, I'm definitely more awake. They did pinch my upper lip and I have quite a sore lip. But things are looking up. 

It shouldn't take me much longer to finish up my new rug, just in time for spring. It's almost here. Almost.

Sue